Foldable basket carriage



Oct. 14, 1947. A s' r AL 2,429,034

FOLDABLE BASKET CARRIAGE Filed Jan. 1,1945

BY hQL/AM f. EV /v8,

Arr-02m Patented Oct. 14, 1 947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOLDABL'EBASKET CARRIAGE Adrian J. Smith and William I. Evans, Los Angeles,Calif.; said Smith assignor to Rollaway Equipment Company, Los Angeles,Calif., a corporation of California Application January 1, 1945, SerialNo. 570,924

9 Claims.

This invention relates to basket carriers, and particularly to a pickupperambulator type of carrier which is readily collapsible and suitablefor use in serve-yourself types of markets and stores.

Carriers of the general type of this invention are well-known, asevidenced by U. S. Patent No. 2,154,800 of April 18, 1939, and U, S.Patent No. 2,155,896 of April 25, 1939, the primary features of thesepickup basket carriers being their simplicity of construction,adaptability to supporting removable baskets, and their collapsibility.Although the prior inventions have these features to a certain degree,the present invention is directed to a carrier which has a minimum ofparts in its construction and may be used as a pickup carrier with orwithout baskets. That is. the platforms or trays for supporting thebaskets may in themselves be used as carriers for the material ormerchandise to be transported. Also, the particular manner of pivotingand hinging the trays or platforms to facilitate collapsing. and openingthe perambulator is a feature of the present invention, since it is onlynecessary to place ones foot on an axle and raise or lower the handlerespectively.

The principal object of the invention, therefor, is to facilitate theloading,transporting, and unloading of material and merchandise.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved basketcarriage for the pickup and transportation of merchandise.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved perambulatorwhich is adapted to directly carry merchandise or to support baskets inwhich the merchandise is placed.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved basketcarrier which has a minimum of parts and which may be quickly collapsedand opened.

Although the novel features which are believed to be characteristic ofthis invention. will be pointed out with particularity in the appendedclaims, the manner of its organization and the mode of its operationwill be better understood by referring to the following description readin conjunction with the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, inwhich: 1

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the invention in open position showingthe manner in which the baskets are placed on the two platforms thereof.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the carriage when collapsed, and

Fig. 3 is a side view of the invention taken along the line 3-3 of Fig1.

Referring now to the drawings in which the same numerals identify likeelements, the main parts of the carriage are U-shaped' scissor frames 5and. 6, frame 5 being longer than frame 6 to serve as a handle. Thelower portions of frame 5 are bent to a vertical position and on theends of which are mounted castor rollers 8 and 9. The lower ends of Uframe 6 are joined by an axle H on which are wheels l3 and M. The mini--mum ofcross bracing members are employed. one being shown spanning thecentral portion of the frame 5 as a strap at I6, and the other spanningthe lower end of frame 5 as a strap H.

For supporting either the material directly or for supporting baskets,an upper tray 20 and a lower tray 2| are provided, these trays havingscreen bottoms 22 and 23, respectively, and edge railings 25 and 26,respectively. The front edge of upper tray 20 is mounted for rotation onthe upper end of frame 6 and is supported at its rear on a cross rod 21just above the brace 56. The tray 20 is strapped to the rod 21 bypivotal connecting bars 29 and 30 (see Fig. 2). A basket 32, shown inthe broken lines, may be placed in the tray 20.

The lower tray 2| is similarly mounted to the frames, but in reverseorder. That is. the front edge of the tray 2| is mounted for. rotationon a cross rod 33 immediately above the brace I1 and is supported at itrear on a cross rod 34 between the lower ends of the frame 5; Twopivotal straps 36 and 3'! connect the tray 2| to the rod 34. A basket39. shown by the broken lines, may be supported by the tray 2 Thiscarriage, as above described, will trans port merchandise in the traysthemselves or the trays may have baskets, such as 32 and 39, placedthereon, the baskets being held in a stable man ner by the railings 25and 26 around the trays. The frame members 5 and 6 are preferablytubular to obtain a large strength ratio per pound of material used,such material being preferably steel, aluminum, or an alloy of thelatter. To collapse the carriage, it is only necessary to place the footon the axle and raise the frame 5 by upward pressure on its handle end.When this is done, the connectin bars 29, 33, 36, and 31 raise the rearends of the respective trays 20 and 2| upwardly, rotating them abouttheir forward attachments, with the result that the carriage appears asshown in Fig. 2 and occupies a minimum of space for storage. It will benoted that the baskets may be placed on and removed from the carriagewith the optimum convenience, since there are no cross bars tointerfere. The above carriage is capable of safely transporting 150'pounds on each tray.

We claim as our invention:

1. A carriage comprising two cross U frame members pivoted together attheir center portions, wheels mounted at the lower ends of said framemembers, a plurality of trays interposed between said frame members, oneend of one of said trays being pivotally mounted on the closed upper endof one of the said frame members, and one end of the other of said traysbeing pivotally mounted adjacent the open lower end of the other of saidframe members, and means for simultaneously raising the opposite ends ofsaid trays upwardly when the upper end of said last mentioned framemember is raised upwardly with respect to the lower end of the otherframe member.

2. A carriage in accordance with claim 1 in which one end of saiduppertray is supported near the center of said other frame member, and oneend of said second tray is supported near the lower end of said firstframe member.

3. A carriage comprising two cross U frame members pivoted together attheir center portions, wheels mounted at the lower ends of said framemembers, a plurality of trays interposed between said frame members, oneof said trays being pivotally mounted on the closed upper end of one ofthe said frame members, and the other ofsaid trays being pivotallymounted adjacent the open lower end of the other of said frame members,and connecting means between said trays and said frame members, theconnecting means for said upper tray extending from the m d-section ofsaid tray to the mid-section of said other frame member, and theconnecting means for said lower tray extending from the mid-section of'said tray to the lower portion of said first frame member.

4. A carrier comprising a pair of crossed frame members, a pa r of traysbetween said frame members, said trays being rotatably mounted to saidframe members along their front edges, and means for supporting the rearportions of said trays, said rear portions being adapted to be rotatedupwardly when said frame members are brought together.

5. A carrier in accordance with claim 4 in which said frame members areU-shaped and one is longer than the other to form a handle, and wheelsare provided on the ends of said frame members.

6. A carrier comprising a pair of crossed frame members, a pair of traysbetween said frame members, said trays being rotatably mounted to saidframe members along their front edges, means for supporting the rearportions of said trays, said rear portions being adapted to be rotatedupwardly when said frame members are brought together, and pivotal strapmembers connecting said trays and said rear portion supporting means forrotating said trays when said frame members are brought together.

7. A merchandise carriage comprising a pair of tubular U-shaped framemembers pivoted together near the centers of their leg portions andmaking an angle of'substantially degrees with each other when in openposition, one of said members having its lower ends bent to a verticalposition, wheels at the ends of the leg portions of said members, a trayhaving one end thereof pivoted to the cross portion at the upper end ofone of said frame members, a support for the other end of said tray onthe other of said frame members, and interconnecting means between thecentral portion of said tray and said support for rotating said otherend of said tray when the angle between said frame members is reduced.

8. A carriage comprising a pair of crossed U- shaped frame members, atray having one end thereof pivotally mounted on the cross portion atthe upper end of one'of said frame members, a support for the other endof said tray on the other of said frame members for maintaining saidtray substantially horizontal, and connecting link means between thecentral portion of said tray and said support for raising and rotatingthe second mentioned end of said tray when the ends of said framemembers are brought together.

9. A carriage comprising a pair of crossed U- shaped frame members, atray pivotally mounted on the cross section of one of said framemembers, a support for said tray on the other of said frame members formaintaining said tray horizontal, connecting link means between saidtray and said support for raising and rotating said tray when the endsof said frame members are brought together, and a second tray, saidsecond tray having one end pivotally mounted near the ends of one ofsaid frame members, and its other end supported near the ends of theother of said frame members, connecting link means being providedbetween the central portion of said second tray and said last mentionedframe member for simultaneously raising the rear end of said second traywhen the rear end of said first tray is raised.

ADRIAN J. SMITH. WILLIAM I. EVANS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,121,756 Heckert June 21, 19382,155,896 Goldman Apr. 1 2,294,752 Hatfield Sept. 1, 1942 2,377,815Sides et a1 June 5, 1945 V FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 182,631Great Britain July 13, 1922

